The Journey Into Virtuality

The Journey into Virtuality is one of lush, green fields, breaking away to two Yankee soldiers from the Civil War peering over a hillside into a Confederate campsite. The dialogue is hushed as the two softly move toward their small band of soldiers, who are ready to advance against their Southern enemies. Before they climb aboard their steeds and proceed against their foes, the commander is surprised to see an unfamiliar face within the ranks. There is no time to account for this unknown presence, as their attack on their foes is eminent. They ride toward the impending battle, but quickly realize it is nothing more than a trap set to ensnare them. As the commander watches one after another of his men shot down, he speaks to “Jean” – an unseen entity – to stop the playback and the action – save for him – is frozen in time, except for the unfamiliar face within his “regiment”. That ‘man’ advances toward the commander and shoots him at close range. As you see the commander gasps his finally breaths, you are transported back to his actual body abroad what appears to be a spaceship. The commander removes a set of virtual reality module glasses and speaks to Jean, the ship’s onboard computer. This is when you realize you aren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto, and this 2-hour movie (as touted by FOX) isn’t going to be your grandfather’s kind of science fiction story.

Virtuality, the latest sci-fi vehicle by FOX, is the creation of Battlestar Galactica impresario Ronald D. Moore and writer/producer Michael Taylor set aboard the Phaeton, Earth’s first starship, which is on a ten-year journey to explore a distant planetary system. The team on the Phaeton is comprised of Commander Frank Pike (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau – New Amsterdam), Jimmy Johnson (Ritchie Coster – The Dark Knight), Rika Goddard (Sienna Guillory – Eragon and Inkheart), Sue Parsons (Clea DuVall – Carnivale and Heroes), Dr. Roger Fallon (James D’Arcy – An American Haunting), Dr. Adin Meyer (Omar Metwally – Munich), Manny Rodriguez (Jose Pablo Cantillo – Standoff), Valentin “Val” Orlovsky (newcomer Gene Farber), Kenji Yamamoto (Nelson Lee – Blade: The Series), Alice Thibadeau (Joy Bryant – Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins), Dr. Julius “Jules” Braun (Erik Jensen – CSI and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2) and Billie Kashmiri (newcomer Kerry Bishé).

Each member of this 12 astronaut team has a unique specialty that is the key to their very survival. Commander Pike has the astronomical task of being in charge of the starship, overseeing the entire crew and making sure they complete their years-long mission for the Consortium, the earthbound business which is offsetting the cost of the expedition. His second-in-command, Engineer Jimmy Johnson, who is a quadriplegic, and Pilot Sue Parsons (a former Marine) are in charge of making sure they get to their destination Epsilon Endiari.

Botanist and Microbial Exobiologist Rika Goddard oversees the elaborate greenhouse aboard the starship and her husband Dr. Roger Fallon is the Psych Officer (Psychiatrist) and Reality Show Producer (more on this aspect of the show is to follow). Also on hand are Computer Scientist and Reality Show Host Billie Kashmiri, Astrophysicists (and married couple) Kenji Yamamoto and Alice Thibadeau, who have decided to forego having children while on the mission (this decision plays out within the 2-hours); Medical Doctor Dr. Adin Meyer, who has, what could be a devastating ailment, that will greatly affect not only himself but the entire crew and Dr. Julius “Jules” Braun, the mastermind behind every last inch of the Phaeton starship. Rounding out the remainder of the crew are married couple Manny Rodriguez, a mathematician, and Valentin “Val” Orlovsky, a geologist.

Their work, as you can imagine, is very intense and vital, as Earth – as it is known in their time period – is on the brink of disaster with storms and plagues wrecking havoc. Their mission will essentially end up being one of finding a new home for all of mankind. The twist to their tale are the ever-present cameras scattered throughout the ship, as the

Consortium has turned their exploration in space into a reality series that is viewed by an average of 5 billion viewers every week on the future version of the FOX network (irony is not a lost art where the network is concerned). To find a reprieve from all the cameras, the crew often escapes into their “virtual reality” headsets (or virt mods as they are called), which allows them to interact – sometimes in surprising ways – in fantastical settings. But there seems to be a problem within the computer software (a virus in the form of “the green-eyed man – played by Jimmi Simpson – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) that supports the virt mods. Neither Computer Scientist Billie nor the onboard computer Jean are able to subdue or correct this anomaly, and in lays one of the major obstacles to the crew.

Deftly directed by Peter Berg, this 2-hour movie is a unique combination of Star Trek, Doctor Who and Firefly. Virtuality will air on FOX tonight (June 26) from 9 to 11 p.m. (8 to 10/CT). Watch and judge for yourself.

The Envelope Part Deux

Earlier this week Louise attended one of the six LA Times “The Envelope” events sponsored by the publication as a way for voting members to see shows and/or films that are being considered as nominees for awards season.  These events are now open to the public – but on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Thankfully, myself and a friend (along with about 150 to 200 other interested folks) were able to attend the Battlestar Galactica presentation last week at Graumann’s Chinese Theatre in the heart of Hollywood.

The difference with this presentation from the Californication event for which Louise attended was this event included two gentleman representing the United Nations (The Department of Public Information Department to be exact) as well as actors Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos and the shows’ executive producers (and masterminds) Ronald Moore and David Eick.  This event was a “sequel” of sorts to the recent presentation the cast and crew made to the United Nations in New York and centered on “TV’s Role in Making Global Issues Relevant”.

As anyone who has watched episodes of the series know, many topical events were portrayed throughout the course of the series, including the genocide of the human race by the Cylons, torture of prisoners and secret tribunals just to name a few.  The issues of race, religion and freedom from tyranny were just a small sample of the hard-hitting issues that were shown in the series.  Many current topics were discussed during the presentation with clips from the show interspersed to bring the message to the forefront.

The event wasn’t entirely serious, though.  There were moments of laughter as well as excitement – especially when Mr. Olmos explained more about the upcoming BSG movie The Plan which will take the 280 plus days after the Cylons attack on the human race and examine it from their point of view.   The movie, directed by Mr. Olmos, will be airing this fall on the Sci-Fi Channel and the trailer that was shown was well received by the entire room.

The audience was warned, however, that the version that will air on TV will only be 88 minutes, but the DVD version is actually 2 hours and 6 minutes long.  If you are a fan of the reimagined BSG, you will want to see this movie and purchase the DVD when it is available.

Before the end of the event, the cast and crew gave “shout-outs” to several of the shows’ writers, producers and directors who were in the audience.  Mr. Moore also made a point of asking for a special round of applause (that turned into a standing ovation) for director Michael Rymer, who oversaw the mini-series and the bulk of the series.  According to Mr. Moore, Mr. Rymer worked in conjunction with he and Mr. Eick in developing the show and while Ron and David received the bulk of the attention over the course of the series, Mr. Rymer deserved the same accolades.

Lastly,  Mr. Eick and Mr. Moore were asked briefly about Caprica, the new series for the Sci-Fi Channel about the genesis of the Cylons and the early days of William Adama and his father, and they advised the series should be coming to the air in early 2010.